Rising People’s Party (RPP) has announced of initiating crowdfunding to help complete the much-awaited Foothill Road connecting Khelma in Peren district with Tizit in Mon district.
Addressing media persons after an interactive session with intellectuals and well-wishers on issues and problems faced by the people of Nagaland at Hotel Ura, Kohima on Thursday, party’s president Joel Naga said completion of the road project would serve as a major lifeline for the people.
He said RPP would release details of crowdfunding in a few weeks.
He remarked if a similar project in Manipur initiated by IAS officer Armstrong Pame could be completed in 2012 with Rs 40 lakh only, the party found it strange that a road project in Nagaland could not be completed despite the State government pumping in Rs 70 crore, as per media reports.
Considering the fact that the Foothill Road project was first conceptualised in 1974 and pursued by Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) since 2013, Joel appealed to all the people of Nagaland to embrace this project as their own by emulating the example set by Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang, which donated Rs 36 lakh in 2020.
Alleging that Naga MLAs were not serious regarding the project, he commented that if they were serious, the project could have been completed by now. If all the 60 MLAs had contributed even 10% of their yearly LADF towards the project, he said Rs 80-90 crore could have been easily collected in the last eight to nine years.
“If this Foothill Road project is abandoned, Naga people will continue to suffer from economic blockades and harassment in the hands of Assam,” he warned.
Appreciating NFHRCC for consistently keeping the issue alive for the last nine years, the RPP president appealed to the committee not to lose hope or be disheartened.